Pakistan’s Head of Delegation to COP-30, Secretary Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (MoCC&EC), Aisha Humera Chaudhry, held a high-level bilateral meeting with Simon Stiell, Chief Executive of the UNFCCC Secretariat, at the UN Climate Summit in Belem.
According to an official statement, both sides discussed key themes under negotiation at COP30 and reviewed Pakistan’s ongoing climate commitments and expectations from the global process.
Aisha Humera Chaudhry informed the UNFCCC leadership that Pakistan had submitted its Third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0) in September 2025, a carbon emission reduction roadmap outlining an enhanced mitigation pathway up to 2035. The revised NDC updates the country’s ambition based on new data and an evolving climate context.
During the meeting, the Secretary also noted that Pakistan has increased its domestically financed mitigation contribution from 15% to 17%, reflecting a continued commitment to global climate goals. However, she stressed that Pakistan’s ability to meet its full 50% emissions-reduction target is contingent on international climate finance, estimated at US$565 billion by 2035. She underlined that earlier pledges of support have yet to materialise at the required scale, a gap that continues to hinder global progress towards the Paris Agreement objective of limiting warming to 1.5°C.
“Pakistan is submitting its NDCs and Biennial Transparency Reports in line with its obligations, but we are not seeing commensurate delivery on commitments from the other side,” she noted, adding that financing, technology deployment, and international cooperation remain critical enablers for climate action.
Stiell appreciated Pakistan’s timely submission of its updated NDCs and inquired about the country’s expectations from the ongoing UN Climate Summit. Aisha Humera Chaudhry emphasised that adaptation must be treated as an equal pillar to mitigation, particularly for climate-vulnerable developing nations. She said Pakistan is seeking a clear Global Goal on Adaptation, adding that even a tripling of adaptation finance “would not be sufficient given the very low existing baseline.”
The Secretary underscored the need for additional, grant-based finance to support effective implementation of NAPs, NDCs, and resilience programmes, and called for financial mechanisms under the UNFCCC to be more responsive to country needs, including honouring existing commitments under the Loss and Damage Fund.
Highlighting Pakistan’s unique and fragile mountain ecosystem, home to the Hindukush, Karakoram, and Himalaya ranges that house over 13,000 glaciers and biodiversity of global importance, Chaudhry briefed UNFCCC’s head Stiell on Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to draw global attention to accelerating glacier melt and other cryosphere-related threats. She referenced a high-level event hosted by Pakistan at COP30 on this issue and informed him of the Cross-Regional Glacier Resilience Initiative, intended to share knowledge and best practices with countries facing similar challenges.
The Secretary noted that the devastating 2025 floods and repeated GLOF events demonstrate the scale of climate impacts Pakistan and many other developing countries are now confronting. She invited the UNFCCC leadership to participate in the Cross-Regional Glacier Resilience Summit, to be hosted in Pakistan next year.
Stiell was also briefed on Pakistan’s country platform and its collaboration with the NDC Partnership, a global coalition supporting the implementation of national climate goals.
